Russia Welcomes Observers at Referendum

Published 7:00 pm, Monday, February 10, 2003

Associated Press Writer

Russia said Tuesday it would welcome international monitoring of a referendum in Chechnya next month and the elections that are to follow in the war-ravaged republic.

Russia is eager to win international approval of the constitutional referendum, an effort by the Kremlin to promote stability and further discredit militants while cementing the republic as part of Russia.

The referendum takes place on March 23, and the elections for president and parliament have yet to be scheduled. Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said observers would be welcome at both.

In his statement, Yakovenko said that the proposed constitution _ which would be subordinate to the Russian constitution _ is being examined by the Council of Europe, the continent's leading human rights body.

The council's human rights commissioner, Alvaro Gil-Robles, was in Moscow on Tuesday to meet with Russian officials before traveling to Chechnya and neighboring Ingushetia. He said it is up to the secretary-general of the Council of Europe to decide whether the group will send observers to Chechnya for the referendum, the Interfax news agency reported.

Gil-Robles is planning to evaluate the human rights situation in Chechnya and among Chechen refugees in Ingushetia, the council said last week. He will also examine whether previous recommendations have been implemented, including one made last May calling for rights to be guaranteed during Russian search operations for rebels.

The operations have been widely criticized by civilians and human rights groups, which say they are rife with abuses, including killings.

Russian forces pulled out of Chechnya in 1996 after a failed 20-month war against separatist rebels that left tens of thousands of people dead and the region with de facto independence. The troops returned in 1999 following rebel attacks in a neighboring region and a series of deadly bombings blamed on the rebels.

Five Russian troops were killed and eight wounded over the past 24 hours in rebel attacks and land mine explosions, an official in the Moscow-backed Chechen administration said. One rebel was killed and two pro-Moscow Chechen policemen were wounded in a clash on the outskirts of Grozny, the capital.

On Tuesday, Chechnya's new Prime Minister Anatoly Popov began work, meeting with several Chechen government officials, the Interfax news agency said.

Popov was named Monday to replace Mikhail Babich, who resigned under pressure after a dispute with the chief of the Moscow-backed administration, Akhmad Kadyrov. Popov formerly headed the state firm responsible for rebuilding the war-shattered republic.